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EU referendum: register to vote

01 Jun 2016

A message from Lady Barbara Judge and Simon Walker

The EU referendum on 23 June is fast approaching. This is a reminder to register to vote, and to encourage your work colleagues to do so.

If you are not already registered, we would urge you to do so by following this link. You are able to register until 7 June. Registering takes a couple of minutes and only requires having your National Insurance number to hand.

If you are not able to vote in person, applying to vote by post in most of the UK ends on 8 June and by a proxy on 15 June. In Northern Ireland the deadline for a postal or proxy vote is 3 June.

The outcome of this vote is of great significance to British business. Please also remind your staff to register.

The IoD is not campaigning in this referendum, but we have been trying to give you the information you need to make your decision. It has been a hard-fought campaign, with the Remain and Leave sides both making a series of claims about the consequences for trade and economic growth. We appreciate you do not have limitless time, but if you did want to read some of the arguments for yourself, the Treasury’s analysis of what would happen in the event of Brexit is here. To get a counter-argument, you can find a report from Economists for Brexit here.

Whatever you decide, we think it’s crucial for business to prepare themselves, and their employees, for all eventualities. It concerns us that only around 60% of our members say they have actually discussed the implications of the referendum at board or senior management level in their company.

This is one of the most important votes you will ever cast. Make sure you have your say.